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UTILITY WEEK | 13TH - 19TH JANUARY 2017 | 19 Finance & Investment This week Eon urged to hive off distribution assets Call for Eon to separate its energy distribution businesses to improve attractiveness to investors Activist investment firm Knight Vinke has urged Eon to further split up its business by separat- ing its energy distribution busi- nesses from the new Eon brand. Knight Vinke chief executive Eric Knight has renewed his calls for further Eon divestments, according to a report in the Financial Times on Monday. The hedge fund bought shares in Eon early last year and in May 2016 Knight wrote to the company urging it to elaborate on its existing break-up strategy by also divesting its distribution business. In renewing this call, Knight said hiving off the elec- tricity and gas distribution businesses would improve their attractiveness to investors. He said there was "huge institutional [investor] demand for a pure network busi- ness and the value of that would be substantially greater than that of [Eon] as a whole". Knight added that energy networks offer "exactly the kind of asset" that investors looking for dividend yield require. Eon split its business in two last year, separating its gas-fired plant, energy trading and gas production activi- ties from its renewable energy, distribution and retail busi- ness. The former activities now operate under the name Uniper, while the latter continue under the Eon brand. The company has responded to Knight's comments, saying a disposal of its distribution businesses would conflict with its strategy to focus on all three elements of the new Eon business. This strategy was agreed at an annual meeting last June and was supported by 97 per cent of votes. JG WATER Yorkshire to sue company over E.coli Yorkshire Water has confirmed it will prosecute a company that caused an E.coli contamination in its water supply network last year. The case is scheduled to be heard in February. "I can confirm that we are prosecuting the company under alleged contraventions of the Water Supply (Water Fittings) Regulations 1999," a company spokesperson told Utility Week. Last July, a "do not drink" order was implemented by Yorkshire Water to customers in Thorne and Moorends aer ini- tial samples indicated the water was not safe for drinking or cooking. This was downgraded to a "boil water notice" the next day, and was lied on 4 August. Yorkshire Water made good- will payments of £30 to custom- ers at about 3,600 properties that were affected by the incident. An unnamed company on Coulman Estate in Thorne was found to have modified its pipe- work without notifying Yorkshire Water to inspect it – something it is legally obliged to do. ELECTRICITY Tidal project wins €20.3m in funding The next phase of the MeyGen tidal power project in Scotland has been awarded a €20.3 mil- lion (£17.6 million) grant by the European Commission. The funds will be used to design, build and operate a 6MW array of four turbines. The aim is to demonstrate the techni- cal and commercial viability of drilled foundation systems and larger diameter turbine rotors. Construction of phase 1B – also known as Demotide or Project Stroma – is expected to begin later this year. ELECTRICITY Eggborough gas plant consultation reaches second stage Eggborough Power has launched the second stage of a public consultation on its plans to build a 2.5GW combined-cycle gas turbine plant on the site of its existing coal power station in North Yorkshire. The process will provide the public with further details of the proposals, which have been "refined" following the first stage of the consultation that took place in September and October last year. Since then, the company has made decisions regarding the specific location of the power station on the site, the size and appearance of the main buildings and structures, and the route of a pipeline to connect the plant to the gas transmission network. It has also increased the capacity of the plant by 500MW. Separate lines: call on Eon to divest distribution Stock watch Tesla shares received a boost last Wednesday aer rival start-up Faraday Future unveiled its new electric car – the FF91 – at the CES 2017 consumer electronics show in Las Vegas. The Faraday team were le red-faced aer the car malfunctioned and failed to park itself during an on-stage demonstration of its "driverless valet" system. Tesla shares gained nearly 5 per cent on the day aer the FF91 launch, rising to around $227 per share. 4 Jan 5 Jan 6 Jan 9 Jan 230 220 210 200 190 TESLA SHARE PRICE, ONE MONTH 19 Dec 27 Dec 3 Jan US dollars 235 230 225 220 215 TESLA SHARE PRICE, FIVE DAYS US dollars 9 Jan